Slab for use in pasting battery grids



July 15', r1924. `1,501,809

i Y c. c. R| c H s'LAB'FoR USE IN-PASTINQ Bumm GRIDs milled July '2o. 1923 Va Sheng-strlen 2 Patented July 15, 1924.

UNITED STATES raises PATENT oit-Fics,

CHARLES, cLaYToisry RICH, or MOUNT VERNON, NEW Yong, ,assiettes or, onE- TWEN'TrETH To errantes 'WInTnai/Innnor Meun'rfvnrtnon, nnv Yeni;

SLAB Een use iN PASTITIG BATTERY Gains.

Application filed .Tuly 20, 1923. Serial No. 652,795.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, CHARLns CLAYTON RICH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mount Vernon, in the county of lll-estchester and State of- New Yorl, have invented certain neiv and useful Improvements in Slabs for Use in Past-ing Battery Grids, Vof which the following is a' specification.

This invention relates to means for filling storage battery plate grids with paste, that is with electro-active'material or material Which Will be electro-active When placed Within electrolyte, and Lthe invention particularly relates to a means for pasting storage battery grids of the character described in my pending application for patent, Serial :tl-646,609, filed June 20, 1923.

In this application for patent, there is disclosed a storage battery plate in Which the grids forming the plate are so formed as to provide a plurality of compartments or pockets wherein the electro-active material or paste is disposed or is intended to be disposed, certain openings being left unfilled With paste Within the boundaries of the marginal frame of the plate to thereby permit expansion of the individual grids Without distortion of the plate or buckling. rlhe details or construction of this grid 'and Vthe object of the grid are fully illustrated and claimed in my pending application for patent.

In the ordinary practice ofpasting storage battery plate grids, they are pasted manually, that is by hand, and few manufacturers perform this step partly by machine and partly by hand, but Well made hand pasted plates are generally considered to be 'of superior quality. ln common practice the method employedis to lay the plate grid fiat doivn upon a smooth surface, such a a slab of hardprubber, Wood or glass, to then apply and Work in the paste with a suitable implement, and 'when the pasting is completed to remove the pastedv grid'from the pasting slab by sliding the pasted grid edgetvise over the face of the slab. The edgevvise sliding movement is necessary for there-ssen that if the pasted grid be lifted from the pasting slab, a part of the paste is almost 'certain to become detached from the plate grid and remain attached to the pasting slab,'th`ereby rendering the pasted grid defective. This result is obviated by removing the pasted plate grid by sliding it edge'wise over the spipoth plane Working surface of the pasting If a plate grid of the character described in my pending application beforereferred to were to be' pasted inthe manner above stated, the slots, apertures orA openings through the plate Which are designed to'be left unfilled with paste tto permit 'eipansion vwould become filled'vwith paste,lor it would be extremely dillicult to prevent these eXpans'ion apertures f-rom becoming filled and vit would be necessary to perform the further step, after the plate was pasted, of removing the excess'paste from the parts of Vthe'iplate grid which are intended to be left open or unfilled. The general object of my present invention, therefore, is to providefa filling slab, as it may be termed, or eq-uivalent'mechanism which will permit the pocketsV or compartments of the plate to be readily filled with paste but which will prevent the filling of the expansion slots, apertures or other openings of like character Withl paste. i

A further object is to so construct this slab or device that after the plate has been filled it may be slid off edgeivise from the Working face of this improved pasting slab.

` still further object is to 'provide a pasting slab Whieh'is formed in tivo "parts, the tivo sec-tions of the slab being 'shiftable to- Ward or from each other to afliniited degree, and provide Yone of these sections With'slots corresponding to the expansion slots or openings yofthe battery plate, and provide the other section with projecting portions or filling members Which, When the two plates are in full contact, Will Ell the expansion slots or other'openings and project slightly beyondth'eseY slots or openings, the eonstructidn being'such that' when thetwo lsections are `slightlyshifted away from each other these filling pieces ivill be brought flush with theI surface of the other section so as to form a. plane faced, smoothslab from .vhi'ch` the battery' plate may be'removed after being vfully 'pasted `by an edgeivise sliding movement.

vOther objects have to dov'vith the means for'shifting the tivo sections of the slab to- Ward or away from each other and the means for adjustably limiting the relative movement of these tivo sections of the slab.

Other objects Will appear in the course of the following description.'

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a side elevatic-n ot my invention;

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view thereot on the line 2-2 ot Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary top plan view;

Figure 1- is a fragmentary perspective view ot one ot the sections ot the device;

Figure 5 is a plan view thereof; t

Figure 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of a battery plate;

Figure 7 is a similar view ot the base section of the device;

ln Figure 6, l have. illustrated a vportion of a battery plate such as is illustrated in my co-pending application before referred to, wherein the battery plate, which is designated generally A, is formed to provide a rectangular trame within which is fitted a series ot grid sections B, each ot these grid sections being also rectangular and contacting with t-he frame at the corne-rs of the grid sections entirely, as at a., the grid sections also contacting with each other at the corners, as at thus leaving a plu.- rality of vertical and horizontal slots C at the top, bottom and slots C at the sides ot each grid section to permit the individual expansion of the grid sections and, therefore, prevent the warping ot, the entire batte-ry plate. 1

It will be not-iced that all ot the slots C have a deiinite width and length but that there are slots C extending vertically at the sides of the battery trame plate A which are narrower than the slotsiC. It will also be seen that each grid has intersecting webs D which provide a plurality ot pockets or compartments within which the paste E is disposed. lt is obvious that in applying paste to this battery plate, the slots C and C must be lett open.

In order to carry out the purpose stated, l provide what l will term a base section 10, which may be made of any suitable material, preferably mate-rial which is practically non-corrosive in the presence ot the paste to be used, this section 10 having any desired thickness and having upstanding from it the rectangularly arranged ribs or webs 11, 12 and 13. rlhe webs 11 and 12 have a thickness approximately equal to the width of the slots C in the battery plate, while the web or rib 13 has a thickness equal to the slot C. These webs or ribs 11, 12 and 13 deiine rectangular spaces within which the individual battery grid sections B fit. The bottom of this section 10 entends outward,y as at 14, and has a plurality .of apertures 15 extending entirely through it.

Coacting with this base section 10 is a section 16 which is likewise made. of preterably non-corrosive materia-l, the upper surface ot this section being tlat and smooth. This section is provided with a plurality of pins 17 which are adapted to be inserted through the openings 15 to thereby bring the two plates in absolutely proper register. The plate or section 16 is formen, as illustrated, with aplurality ot slots 11, 12a and 13FL corresponding to the webs ot' ribs 11, 12 and 13 onthe section 10 so that when the section 16 is moved downward on the section 10 into the position shown in Figure 2, the webs 11, 12 and 13 will extend upward through the slots 11a, 12n and 13a.

It will be noted that the section 16 has a depth less than the depth or height of the ribs or webs 11, 12 and 13 so that when this section 16 is fully moved downward upon the flanges 14, as illustrated in Figure 1, the ribs or webs 11, 12 and 13 will project up above the tace of the section 16 a distance equal to the thickness ot' the battery plate A, and it will be also seen, ot course, that with this construction they plate or section 16 may be raised or shifted outward from the section 10 to a degree which will bring the smooth outer tace ot the section 16 exactly flush with the ends of the ribs or webs 11, 12 and 13. Preferably, though I do noti wish to be limited to this, the slots 11n, 12a' and will gradually increase in cross section downward so as to provide clearance for the webs 11, 12 and 13, or the slots 11, 12a and 13a may be of even width throughout their height but the webs 11, 12 and 13 may be tapered toward their outer ends so as to provide for this clearance. It will be seen that proper clearance may be provided either ay reducing the cross sectional area ot the `webs or increasing the width ot the slots beginning at a point below the upper 'faces of the webs or by tapering the webs or tapering the slots. or both.

1 do not wish to be limited to any particular means for shitting the section 16' toward or from the sect-ion 10, but .l have illustrated tor this purpose the ends ot section 10 as being provided with levers 18 which are pivoted upon pins 19, these levers at their outer ends having a relatively elongated recess 2O constituting seats for pins 21 projecting outward from the ends of the section 16. rlhe inner ends of the levers 18 are slotted and operatively connected to operating rods 21, which in turn may be connected to a treadle 22 or to any other suitable operating means.

lt will he obvious new that as the rod 2-1 is shifted upward, the inner ends ot the levers 18 will be raised and the outer ends lowered and that this will permit the lowering of the section 16 onto or against the tace of the section 10, and that when the inner ends ot the levers 18 are drawn downward, the outer ends will he torced upward and this will lift the section 16 off the sectionA 10. Ans-*before remarked, the Jsection 16 will only be lifted to such a,I height that the upper faceY of the section 16Y`is exact-ly flush with they upper endfaces ofthe .webs or ribs 11, 12 and 1 3, and to this end I may provide anynsuitable limiting stopsto limit the relative movement of the members 1()` and 16. I have illustrated yfor this purpose, however', slotted yokes 23, each yoke having a slot 24 through which screws `25 pass into the corresponding end of the section 10, the upper portion of this yoke having a slot 26. A guide screw 2T passes through this slot 26 into the side face of the section 16. This screw is formed with a shoulder 28 which limits the inward movement of the screw by bearing against the end face of the section 16 so that the head of the screw cannot bind upon the slotted yoke. By adjusting the yoke by means of the screws25, it is possible to very exactly limit the relative movement-s of the sections 10 and 16 away from each other so as to bring the upper face of the plate or section 16 exactly flush with the upper edge faces of t-he webs 11, 12 and 1-3. In actual practice the'plate or section 16 does not rest Hat against the section 10 but an appreciable space is left between the two sections 10 and 16 when the section 16 is in its lowermost position to provide clearance for dirt, etc.

It is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited to a stationary lower and a movable upper section but, on the contrary, the upper section may be held stationary and the lower section may be moved, or both of said sections may be made to approach or recede from each other. Neither do I wish to be limited to the means which I have illustrated for the purpose of relatively moving the sections, as it is obvious that many different means might be used for this purpose without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The operation of this device is as follows: When ready to paste plate grids of the type for which this device is particularly adapted, such as is illustrated in my co-pending application. and in Figure 6 of the present application, adjustments are so made by means of the adjustablestops consisting of the yokes 23 and the screws 25 and 27, that when suiiicient power is applied through the lever arms to raise the upper section of the slab to its extreme extent of movement, the upper faces of the ribs or webs 11, 12 and 13 will be justflush with the upper or working face of the upper section 16. When the section 16 is permitted to lower relative to the section 10, the stops formed of the members 28 and 27 will check the amount of movement at such a point as will leave the webs or ribs 11, 12 and 13 project-ing from the upper or working surface of the plate 16 a suiiicient distance to be practically flush with the upper face of the plate grid to be pasted, when the said plate grid is laid fla-t down upon the slab 10, as illustrated in Figure 1.

Assuming that the plate grid is lying flat down upon the upper face of the section 16 with the webs 11, 12 and 13 extending up through the slots in the plate grid and iiush with the upper Iface of said plate grid, the paste is applied and worked into the plate grid and smoothed olf in the usual manner. Then this has been accomplished, the section 16 is raised (or the section 10 lowered as the case may be) until the stops check the relative movement of the two plates 10 and 16 and this movement of the plate is stopped when the upper face of the webs 16, 12 and 13 are just iiush with the upper face of the section 11, thus forming in effect a smooth surface in one plane which permits removing the pasted plate grid by an edge'wise sliding movement. Y

The essential feature of my invention consists of a slab section or plate having at least one substantially plane surface provided with outstanding projections adapted to extend into openings, slots yor apertures which are tol be left unfilled in battery plates or a slab consisting of two sections, one being perforated and the other having projections designed to pass through and extend beyond the working face of the perforated section, these two sections being shiftable so as to bring these projecting portions flush with the face of the upper section.

I claim 1. Means u sedrin pasting battery plates having certain apertures not designed to be iilled with paste comprising a sla-b having a flat working surface upon which the battery plate may be placed, said flat surface having projections formed to fill the said apertures in the battery plate when the battery plate is laid upon the slab.

2. Means used in pasting battery plates having certain apertures not designed to be filled with paste comprising a slab having a flat upper surface, and a member having projections formed to lill the said apertures in the battery plate when the battery plate is laid upon the slab, said member being withdrawable from the slab to bring the pnlp'ections flush with the surface of the sla 8. Means used in pasting battery plates having certain apertures not designed to be tiled with paste comprising a slab formed of two sections, one adapted to be superimosed `upon the other, one of said sections having a flat upper face upon which the'battery plate is adapted to be laid and having apertures therein corresponding to and registen ing with the said apertures in the battery plate which are not to befilled, the other section having projections formed to fill said apertures and project-ing beyond the face of the first named section and into the said. apertures of the battery plate.

el. Means used in pasting battery plates having certain apertures not designed to be filled with paste comprising a slab formed of two sections, one adapted to be superimosed upon the other, one of said sections having a flatupper face upon which the battery plate is adapted to be laid and having apertures therein eoresponding to and registering with the said apertures in the battery plate which are not to be filled, the other section having projections formed to fill said apertures and projecting beyond the face of the first named section and into the said apertures of the battery plate, the sections being shiftable away from each other to withdraw the projections from engagement with the battery plate.

5. Means used in pasting battery plates having certain apertures not designed to be Vfilled with paste comprising` a slab Yformed of two sections, one adapted to be superimposed upon the other, one of said sections having a flat upper face upon which the battery plate is adapted to be laid and having apertures therein corresponding to and registering with the said apertures in the battery plate which are not to be filled. the other sect-ion having projections formed to fill said apertures and projecting beyond the face of the first named section `and into the said apertures of the battery plate, the sections being shiftable away from each other to thereby carry the projections into such position that the faces of t-he projections shall be fiush with the working face of the other section to thereby permit the battery plate to be shifted off of the slab by a sidewise movement.

6. Means used in pasting battery plates having certain apertures not designed to be filled with paste comprising a slab formed of two sections, one adapted to be superimposed upon t-he other, one of said sections having a fiat upper face upon which the battery plate is adapted to be laid and having apertures therein corresponding to and registering with the said apertures in the battery plate which are not to be filled1 the other section having projections formed to lill said apertures and normally projecting beyond the face of the first named section and into the said apertures of the battery plate when thel battery plate is in place upon the slab to fill the last named aperturs, said projections and the apertures in the slab through which they pass being formed to provide clearance.

7. Means used in pasting battery plates having certain apertures not designed to be filled with paste comprising a slab formed of two sections, one adapted to be superimposed upon the other, one of said sections having a fiat upper face upon which the battery plate is adapt-ed to be laid and having apertures therein corresponding to and reg- ,o

istering with the said apertures in the battery plate which are not to be filled, the other section having projections formed to fill said apertures and normally projecting beyond the face of the first named section and into the said apertures of the battery plate when the battery plate is in place upon the slab to fill the last named apertures, and means for limiting the movement of the sections away from each other to a distance permitting the sections to be shifted to a position where the ends of the projections are flush with the Working face of the other section.

8. Means used in past-ing battery plates having certain apertures not designed to be filled with paste comprising a slab formed of two sections, one adapted to be superimposed upon the other, one of said sections having a flat upper face upon which the battery plate is adapted to be laid and having apertures therein corresponding to and registering with the said apertures in the battery plate which are not to be filled, the other section having projections formed to fill said apertures and normally projecting beyond the face of the first named section and into the said apertures of t-he battery plate when the battery plate is in place upon the slab to fill the last named apertures, means for limiting the movement ofthe sections away from each other to a distance permitting the sections to be shifted to a position where the ends of the projections are fiush with the working face of the other section, and manually operable means for shift-ing said sections toward or from each other. Y

9. Means used in pasting battery plates having certain apertures not designed to be filled with paste comprising a slab formed of two sections, one adapted to be superimposed upon t-he other, one of said sections having a flat upper face upon which the battery plate is adapted to be laid. and having apertures therein corresponding to and registering with the said apertures in the battery plate which are not to be filled, the other section having projections formed to filll said apertures and normally projecting beyond the face of the first named section and into the said apertures of the battery plate when the battery plate is in place upon the slab to fill the last named apertures, means for limiting the movement of the sections away from each other to a distance permitting the sections to be shifted to a position where the ends of the projections are fiush with the working face of the other section, and manually operable means for shift-ing said sections toward or from each other including levers pivotally connected to ed by edgevvise movement, and means earthe sections. ried by said slab for removably filling the l0. Means used in pasting battery plates apertures in the battery plate not designed l0 having apertures not designed to be lled to be filled with paste.

5 with past eomprisingaslab havingasmooth In testimony whereof I afx my signasurfaee upon Which the battery plate may ture. be disposed and from which it may be shift CHARLES CLAYTON RICI-I. 

